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Rockies, Nick Anderson Agree To Minor League Deal

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Reliever Nick Anderson has a minor league deal with the Rockies, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Anderson, a client of Gaeta Sports Management, had been on a minor league contract with the Cardinals. He triggered an opt-out and quickly found another landing spot.

Anderson had been pitching for the Cards’ top farm team in Memphis. He made 17 appearances, allowing a 6.20 ERA over 20 1/3 innings. His respective strikeout (21.5%) and walk (8.6%) rates weren’t terrible, but he gave up a fair amount of hard contact and had a tough time stranding runners. St. Louis unsurprisingly decided not to call him up when he triggered the out clause.

The 34-year-old Anderson appeared in the majors with the Royals in the first half of last season. He tossed 35 2/3 frames of 4.04 ERA ball with a modest 19% strikeout rate. Anderson subsequently spent time in Triple-A with the Dodgers and Orioles but didn’t get a major league opportunity with either club.

Anderson has been a journeyman middle relief type since his brilliant 2019-20 run between Miami and Tampa Bay. He provided the Braves 35 1/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball a couple seasons back and still sits in the 94-95 MPH range with his fastball. Colorado’s bullpen has managed a serviceable 4.29 ERA overall, but they’re last in MLB with an 18.9% strikeout rate.

Cardinals’ Nick Anderson Clears Waivers, Will Report To Triple-A

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March 24: Anderson was not claimed and will open the season in Triple-A Memphis. He has a straight opt-out clause (as opposed to his current upward mobility clause) on May 30, per Alexander.

March 22: Anderson will indeed be exercising his upward mobility clause tomorrow, KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reports.

March 18: The Cardinals reassigned righty Nick Anderson to minor league camp, but the right-hander has an upward mobility clause in his minor league deal, reports Katie Woo of The Athletic. Effectively, that forces the Cardinals to make him available to the 29 other teams and let him go if another club is willing to place him on its 40-man roster.

More specifically, MLBTR has learned that Anderson will be available to other clubs on March 23. They’ll have 24 hours to decide whether they want to claim him and place him on the 40-man roster. If another team is willing to do so, the Cardinals will have 72 hours to counter by placing him on their own 40-man roster; if they choose not to, they have to let him go. Anderson’s deal contains a $1.1MM base salary in the big leagues.

Anderson, 34, has had a rollercoaster career. At times, he’s been flat-out dominant, as was the case in 2019-20, when he pitched 81 1/3 innings of 2.77 ERA ball with a ridiculous 42.2% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. He’s never quite recreated that success but has generally been effective when healthy. That, unfortunately, has proven to be a major caveat for the oft-injured righty.

Though he debuted in 2019 and has more than five years of MLB service, Anderson only has 158 1/3 innings of major league work under his belt. He’s been sidelined by a laundry list of injuries, including a shoulder strain, and internal brace procedure on his right ulnar collateral ligament, plantar fasciitis, a back strain and forearm inflammation. All of those injuries have occurred since 2020.

It’s been a mixed bag for Anderson this spring. He’s had a few solid outings but was tagged for four runs in one-third of an inning midway through camp. In his final appearance before being sent out to minor league camp, he gave up a pair of solo homers in an inning of work. Overall, he’s yielded eight runs on 11 hits and two walks and six strikeouts in 5 1/3 frames — a grisly 13.50 ERA. It’s a small sample that’s heavily skewed by that one particularly awful outing, but it’s still not an ideal set of results when hoping another club might come calling with a 40-man roster opportunity.

Rocky spring notwithstanding, Anderson touts a 3.18 earned run average in the majors and has paired that with plus strikeout and walk rates of 31.6% and 7.2%, respectively. If a club watched him during Grapefruit League play and felt his raw stuff outshined the small-sample run prevention numbers, it’s feasible that his track record and current health could prompt another team to take a look. His $1.1MM base salary is only $340K north of league minimum. However, because he has five-plus years of MLB service, Anderson would need to consent to be optioned with another team, which only throws another layer into the equation when weighing the possibility of adding him once he’s formally available.

Cardinals Sign Nick Anderson To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced Friday that they’ve signed righty Nick Anderson to a minor league deal and invited him to major league spring training. Anderson, a client of Gaeta Sports Management, recently worked out for big league scouts to show his readiness after an injury-marred 2024 season. Ari Alexander of KPRC-2 reports that Anderson would earn $1.1MM in the majors. His contract contains an upward mobility clause that allows another team to add him to their Opening Day roster if he’s not going to break camp with the Cardinals.

Anderson also finished out the 2023 season on the injured list due to a shoulder strain. He began the 2022 season on the shelf while mending from an internal brace procedure the prior year, and his ’22 campaign ended due to plantar fasciitis. In his injury-dotted big league career, Anderson has also missed due to a back strain and a forearm issue.

It’s a laundry list of injuries, but Anderson has typically been excellent when healthy. Dating back to his 2019 MLB debut, he’s pitched 158 1/3 major league innings and logged a 3.18 earned run average. Anderson has 39 holds and 10 saves in his career, and his rate stats are eye-catching: 31.6% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and a gaudy 15.4% swinging-strike rate.

The 34-year-old Anderson gives the Cardinals an upside play in their late-inning mix if he can stay healthy. He hasn’t done that over the course of a full season since 2019, but there’s no harm for the Cardinals in taking a look. A healthy Anderson would be a boon to the bullpen, and he’s throwing well this summer he’d be a natural trade chip as St. Louis looks to restock its farm system. Anderson has 5.094 years of major league service to his credit, so there’s no surplus club control here. He’ll reach six years of big league service with another 78 days in the majors, so he’s very likely to end up a free agent at season’s end one way or another.

The Cardinals’ bullpen heading into 2025 — like their roster as a whole — is largely unchanged. The club has reportedly rebuffed interest in star closer (and pending free agent) Ryan Helsley despite taking a step back to focus on player development. JoJo Romero, Ryan Fernandez, Matthew Liberatore and John King are among the other options for manager Oli Marmol. If Anderson makes the club, it seems fair to expect that he’ll factor into setup duties and perhaps even get a crack at closing games if Helsley is moved or lands on the injured list himself.

Twins Among Teams Interested In Nick Anderson

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Right-hander Nick Anderson is garnering interest from multiple teams, according to a report from Ari Alexander of KPRC2. Alexander adds that Anderson is scheduled to hold a workout for at least ten teams on January 23. Meanwhile, Darren Wolfson of KSTP 5 reports that the Twins will be among the teams in attendance for Anderson’s workout.

Anderson, 35, made his MLB debut with the Marlins back in 2019 but was traded to the Rays shortly thereafter. Upon arriving in Tampa, Anderson’s career started to take off as he posted a sterling 1.85 ERA in 43 2/3 innings of work with a 2.42 FIP and an eye-popping 42.5% strikeout rate. Unfortunately, those fantastic rate stats came in just 43 2/3 innings of work across the 2019, ’20, and ’21 seasons. Elbow issues limited him to just six innings in 2021 and kept him from pitching at the big league level in 2022, leading the Rays to cut him loose.

Since then, he’s pitched for the Braves and Royals at the big league level. His time in Atlanta went fairly well; while his 25.5% strikeout rate was clearly a step back from his peak years in Tampa, he nonetheless managed a 3.06 ERA and 3.09 FIP in 35 1/3 innings of work. Anderson’s stop in Kansas City, however, was not quite as strong. The right-hander’s strikeout rate dipped to just 19% while his walk rate crept up to 9.8% after sitting at a much stronger 6.4% the year prior. While Anderson posted the best hard-hit and barrel rates of his career with the Royals, the on-field results just weren’t there and he was cut from the roster back in July after posting a 4.04 ERA and 5.07 FIP in 35 2/3 innings of work.

Since parting ways with the Royals, Anderson briefly pitched in both the Dodgers and Orioles organizations on minor league deals but did not make it to the big league level. He ended the season on the minor league injured list, though early in the offseason Baltimore expressed at least some level of interest in reuniting with Anderson this winter. It’s unclear whether or not such a reunion would come on a minor league deal, however, as Alexander has indicated that clubs have expressed interest in Anderson on a one-year deal, implying he should be able to land a major league contract.

As for the Twins, Anderson could certainly make some sense for the club. After a down season in 2024 and given his checkered injury history, the right-hander isn’t likely to secure a massive guarantee on the free agent market at this point. That’s surely good news for Minnesota, as the club is in a position where they appear more likely to cut payroll than add significant salary. The Twins’ bullpen was decent in 2024, with a 3.65 FIP that actually ranked fifth in baseball, but their actual run prevention left something to be desired as their 4.12 ERA ranked 19th in the majors. The only major contributor to last year’s bullpen the club has parted ways with so far is southpaw Caleb Thielbar, but reinforcing the bullpen is rarely a bad idea and bringing Anderson into the fold could deepen the club’s bullpen and allow them to utilize middle relief options like Justin Topa and Jorge Alcalá more judiciously.

Orioles Notes: Bautista, Rogers, Anderson

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The Orioles enter the 2024-25 offseason on the heels of a disappointing end to their season where they fell out of the AL East race late in the year before failing to win a playoff game against the Royals during the Wild Card Series. While that disappointing end to the season in conjunction with the impending free agencies of key pieces like Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander is surely worrisome for fans in Baltimore, there is one major silver lining regarding the club’s 2025 outlook: the impending return of closer Felix Bautista

Bautista, 29, was perhaps the single most dominant bullpen arm on the planet in 2023 when he made his first career All-Star appearance and pitched to a jaw-dropping 1.48 ERA with a 1.88 FIP with a ridiculous 46.4% strikeout rate in 61 innings of work. Unfortunately, the dominant closer underwent Tommy John surgery in early October of last year and missed not only the 2023 postseason but all of 2024, as well. He figures to be back on the mound for Baltimore in 2025, though, and MASN’s Roch Kubatko relayed earlier today that Bautista is currently on track to be “full-go” in time for Spring Training in February. That’s a great sign for the Orioles, particularly given the fact that their bullpen took a major step back this past year as they tried to replace Bautista in the closer role with veteran closer Craig Kimbrel, who pitched quite well in the first half of the season but fell apart in mid-July, surrendering an 11.50 ERA with a 7.44 FIP in his final 18 innings of work before being designated for assignment in September.

Bautista may not be the only boost the club’s bullpen gets entering next year, either. The Orioles paid a hefty price to acquire lefty Trevor Rogers from the Marlins, surrendering well-regarded youngsters Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby to seal the deal. Rogers struggled badly in his first taste of action with the Orioles, however, surrendering 16 runs (15 earned) in 19 innings of work across four starts with the team before being demoted to Triple-A. That brutal stint in the club’s rotation raised some questions about the club’s future plans for Rogers, who is under control via arbitration through the end of the 2026 season. Kubatko offered some insight on the club’s thinking, noting that while the Orioles have not yet given up on the possibility that Rogers can pitch in the rotation the club also figures to weigh the value he could bring to the club as a long reliever.

That makes Rogers one of a handful of potential rotation options who will be fighting for a role with the big league club next spring. Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, and Dean Kremer all seem like to be part of the club’s rotation on Opening Day 2025, leaving two spots up for grabs. It seems likely that the Orioles will pursue an external addition either via free agency or on the trade market to fill at least one of those spots, but the club does have a handful of internal options for the back of their rotation even beyond Rogers. Albert Suarez enjoyed something of a breakout season in a swing role with the club at age-34, pitching to a solid 3.70 ERA in 133 2/3 innings of work this year while drawing 24 starts and making an additional eight relief appearances.

Other factors in the club’s rotation mix, if not out of Spring Training then at some point in 2025, figure to be youngsters Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott, both of whom made their big league debuts in 2024 to somewhat lackluster results. McDermott surrendered three runs on five hits (including a homer) and two walks while striking out three in four innings of work during his lone big league appearance this year, while Povich surrendered a 5.20 ERA with a 4.79 FIP in sixteen starts with the Orioles this year. Despite those bumpy debuts, however, the youngsters could still be utilized either as depth in the rotation or as long relief options out of the bullpen should they fail to earn a spot in the rotation out of camp this spring.

One other potential bullpen arm Kubatko suggests could be worth keeping an eye on is veteran right-hander Nick Anderson. Anderson, 34, was once a highly-regarded hurler for the Rays but missed time in recent years due to elbow surgery, plantar fasciitis, and shoulder issues. He pitched 35 2/3 innings for the Royals this year with a middling 4.04 ERA but a worrisome 5.06 FIP before being released by the Royals in late July. Anderson joined the Orioles on a minor league deal in the final days of August, but made just two appearances at the Triple-A level before being sidelined due to an injury and ultimately failed to make the big league club. While Anderson is currently scheduled to reach free agency following the World Series, Kubatko suggests that the club could look to re-sign him, presumably on a fresh minor league deal.

Orioles, Nick Anderson Agree To Deal

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Aug. 28: It’s a minor league pact, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. However, Kubatko adds that the Orioles plan to get Anderson up to the big leagues in short order, so a 40-man roster move to select his contract could be on the horizon in the next few days.

Aug. 27: Reliever Nick Anderson is joining the Orioles after opting out of a minor league deal with the Dodgers, reports Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (X link). It is not clear whether the righty will jump right onto Baltimore’s MLB roster or is signing a minor league pact to report to Triple-A Norfolk.

Anderson, a client of Gaeta Sports Management, spent around five weeks in the Dodger system. He signed with L.A. after being released by the Royals coming out of the All-Star Break. He spent the first couple weeks of his stint with the Dodgers in the team’s Arizona complex. Los Angeles didn’t assign him to Triple-A Oklahoma City until August 10. Anderson pitched three times there, allowing three runs (one of which was earned) through 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five while issuing a trio of walks.

Prior to that abbreviated stint with the Dodgers, Anderson occupied a middle relief role in Kansas City. The 34-year-old worked to a 4.04 ERA across 35 2/3 frames. That tolerable run prevention mark belied less impressive peripherals. Anderson’s strikeout rate fell to a career-low 19% clip while he walked nearly 10% of opponents. He surrendered six home runs, more than 1.5 longballs per nine innings.

Anderson is only one season removed from a strong year with Atlanta. He provided the Braves 35 1/3 innings of 3.04 ERA ball while striking out a quarter of his opponents last season. That solid showing was cut short by a July shoulder strain, but Anderson’s velocity has returned in 2024.

While the O’s are in a good spot overall, their bullpen has been shaky for the better part of two months. The Baltimore relief corps has a 4.85 earned run average since the All-Star Break. Craig Kimbrel has fallen into a significant rut. Deadline pickups Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto have had some home run issues, while setup man Jacob Webb has been out for the last three weeks due to elbow inflammation. Baltimore has Burch Smith and Matt Bowman, each of whom joined the club on midseason minor league deals, in the middle relief group.

Dodgers To Sign Nick Anderson To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers are signing right-handed pitcher Nick Anderson to a minor league deal. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the two sides were in agreement on a contract, while Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic confirmed that it would be a minor league pact. Bob Nightengale of USA Today later added that the deal has opt-outs on August 15 and 28. Anderson was designated for assignment by the Royals before the All-Star break and cleared release waivers on Saturday.

Anderson pitched well for the Braves over the first half of the 2023 season, posting a 3.06 ERA and 3.47 SIERA in 35 games, while collecting four wins, one save, and 15 holds. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury ended his year in mid-July. Despite his promising first half, the Braves dealt Anderson to the Royals following the season in exchange for cash considerations.

The 34-year-old right-hander was unable to replicate his first-half success in 2024, pitching to a 4.04 ERA and 4.39 SIERA in 37 outings with Kansas City. Although his fastball velocity is slightly up from last season, Anderson has struggled in almost every respect: His strikeout rate is down, his walk rate is up, and he has given up twice as many home runs as last year in close to the same number of innings. Considering his poor numbers this season and extensive injury history over the past few years, it wasn’t too surprising that Anderson was DFA’d after the Royals traded for fellow right-handed reliever Hunter Harvey. That said, Kansas City might have been hoping another team would claim Anderson off of waivers and take his 2024 salary off its books.

Instead, the Dodgers waited and signed Anderson to a minor league deal, which means they will only need to pay him a prorated portion of the league minimum salary. Although Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow are set to return from the IL this coming week, the Dodgers can still use all the pitching help they can get. The injury bug has hit their rotation much more than their bullpen, but L.A. is currently missing relievers like Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Brasier, and Michael Grove. More to the point, the Dodgers simply need to ensure they have enough healthy arms – starters or relievers – to get them through the remainder of the season.

That being said, the Dodgers are surely hoping Anderson can be more than just a warm body. This organization has a great reputation for developing arms and helping veteran pitchers reinvent themselves. Perhaps L.A. can help Anderson rediscover what has made him such an effective reliever at previous points in his career. In addition to his strong 2023 campaign with the Braves, he was dominant from 2019-20 with the Marlins and Rays, pitching to a 2.77 ERA and 2.14 SIERA in 87 games.

Royals Place Nick Anderson On Release Waivers

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The Royals released veteran reliever Nick Anderson, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets that the right-hander is currently on release waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll hit free agency in the coming days.

Kansas City pushed Anderson out of their bullpen last weekend when they acquired Hunter Harvey. With more than five years of major league service, Anderson had the ability to decline any minor league assignments while retaining his $1.575MM salary. That led the Royals to release him after the DFA.

The Royals took a flier on Anderson in a cash trade with the Braves last offseason. Atlanta evidently wasn’t planning to keep him via arbitration, but K.C. swung a deal to bring him in just before the non-tender deadline. Anderson made 37 appearances and tossed 35 2/3 innings, his heaviest MLB workload since his dominant 2019 rookie year. The 34-year-old posted a reasonable 4.04 earned run average, but his peripherals weren’t great.

Anderson got swinging strikes on a modest 9.8% of his offerings. That resulted in a subpar 19% strikeout rate. His 9.8% walk percentage was a bit higher than average. It’s not great aggregate production, although Anderson’s strikeout and walk numbers had started to come around in recent weeks. He had nearly as many walks (12) as strikeouts (13) through the end of May. Since the calendar flipped to June, Anderson punched out 16 hitters while only issuing a trio of free passes in 15 appearances. That coincided with a home run spike, however, and the front office decided to push him out of a scuffling relief group.

Once an elite late-game weapon for the Rays, Anderson missed most of the 2021-22 seasons to elbow injuries. Tampa Bay cut him loose after the ’22 campaign. Anderson hasn’t been the same force he was back in 2019, but he was an above-average reliever for the Braves as recently as last season. He turned in a 3.04 ERA while striking out more than a quarter of opponents across 35 appearances. A shoulder strain ended his year around the All-Star Break.

If Anderson clears waivers, any team could sign him for the prorated portion of the $740K minimum. Kansas City would be on the hook for the rest of his salary. It’s not out of the question he secures a major league contract and jumps right into another team’s MLB bullpen. If he does find an MLB job, Anderson would remain under arbitration control through 2025.

Royals Acquire Hunter Harvey From Nationals

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The Royals have bolstered their bullpen with the acquisition of right-hander Hunter Harvey, as the Nationals announced that Harvey will head to K.C. in exchange for third baseman Cayden Wallace and the Royals’ Competitive Balance Round A pick (39th overall) in the 2024 draft.  The Royals also announced the move, as well as the news that right-hander Nick Anderson has been designated for assignment to create roster space for Harvey.

Today’s 5-0 loss to the Red Sox dropped the Royals to a 52-44 record, and a game back of Boston for the third and final AL wild card slot.  Playing .542 baseball is already an impressive step forward for a team that lost 106 games in 2023, yet Kansas City clearly has eyes on bouncing back from some recent struggles.  The Royals started the season at a blistering 39-26 pace, but have since stumbled to a 13-18 mark in their last 31 games, and relief pitching has been a major reason behind this slide.

The K.C. bullpen ranks in the bottom third of baseball in most major categories, including 22nd in bullpen ERA (4.30).  James McArthur has converted 17 of 21 save chances but has been somewhat shaky, and the Royals’ relief corps is lacking in both velocity and strikeout ability.  Recent reports suggested that Kansas City was considering the bullpen as a top need heading into the trade deadline, even ahead of the Royals’ also-pressing need for outfield upgrades.

Harvey and his 97.8mph fastball provide some immediate high-leverage zip in the Royals’ pen, and Harvey also has above-average strikeout and walk rates over his 45 innings this season out of Washington’s bullpen.  While he has a 4.20 ERA, Harvey’s SIERA is 2.99, as a .325 BABIP has contributed to make Harvey’s bottom-line results an insufficient reflection of his quality pitching.

Selected 22nd overall by the Orioles in the 2013 draft, Harvey drew top-100 prospect attention before a variety of injuries threatened to halt his career before it ever got off the ground.  He had a 3.42 ERA over 23 2/3 innings and 26 appearances for Baltimore during the 2019-21 seasons, but the Giants claimed him off waivers in November 2021, and Harvey then moved to Washington on another waiver claim just prior to the start of the 2022 campaign.

This time with the Nationals allowed Harvey to establish himself as a solid MLB-caliber arm, even if he has flown under the radar during the team’s rebuild.  Harvey has a 3.17 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, and 6.4% walk rate in 145 innings for D.C., working mostly as a setup man but with 10 saves to his ledger in 2023.  Hard contact is a big red flag in Harvey’s arsenal, but he has done a passably good job of keeping this hard contact from translating into home runs.  Moving to spacious Kauffman Stadium could further help the 29-year-old Harvey in this regard.

Harvey is earning a $2.35MM salary this season in his second-last year of arbitration eligibility, so the Royals also control him through the end of the 2025 campaign.  This extra year of control made Harvey a particularly interesting player to watch heading into the July 30 deadline, and both Harvey and Nats closer Kyle Finnegan (also controlled through 2025) cracked the top 15 of MLBTR’s recent listing of the top 50 trade candidates.  Since teams generally have to pay a bit extra to complete deals further in advance of the deadline, that factor plus Harvey’s extra year of control and perhaps the Royals’ eagerness to quickly correct their bullpen struggles combined to give Washington a pretty nice return.

The rebuilding Nationals stayed within striking distance of the NL wild card race, but today’s trade leaves no doubt that the Nats will remain on their expected path as sellers heading into the deadline.  This doesn’t mean that Washington might not seek out some players that could help them be competitive as early as 2025, and Wallace could potentially fit that category, as he is currently in his second season of Double-A ball.

A second-round pick for the Royals in the 2022 draft, Wallace is hitting .282/.350/.427 over 140 plate appearances for Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season, but he has been slowed by both an oblique strain and an ongoing IL stint for a broken rib.  These injuries have slowed his development, but MLB Pipeline still ranks Wallace as the second-best prospect in the Kansas City farm system, and Baseball America ranked him fifth in their preseason ranking of Royals minor leaguers.  Both scouting reports consider him a good defensive player with the ability to remain at third base due to a strong throwing arm, and Wallace has a good approach at the plate and a solid swing.  He has power potential moreso than obvious power at the moment, so Pipeline and BA view Wallace as a gap hitter with some upside as he develops.

Trading a “third baseman of the future” candidate like Wallace serves as an endorsement of the Royals’ faith in Maikel Garcia in at least the short term, even if Kansas City might now look for some help at the hot corner down the road — perhaps as soon as tomorrow’s draft.  As noted by MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman, the Nationals have now given themselves lot of third base depth for the future, with Wallace joining Brady House (ranked by Pipeline as the 44th-best prospect in all of baseball) and Yohandy Morales in the minor league ranks.  This could be a potential surplus position for the Nationals in the coming years, if they return to contention and start moving their own internal prospects for more win-now veterans.

The Competitive Balance Round selections are the only types of draft picks that can be traded, and as such are quietly some of the most valued trade chips in all of baseball.  Any team can trade for CBR picks, but since smaller-market and lower-revenue teams are the only clubs eligible for these bonus selections in the first place, trades involving the picks are relatively rare, given how adding talent through the draft is of such particular value for the game’s lesser spenders.  Still, today’s trade marks the third CBR pick of the 2024 draft to change hands — the Brewers acquired the 34th overall pick from the Orioles as part of the Corbin Burnes trade, while the White Sox landed the 68th overall pick (in CBR Round B) as part of the deal that sent Gregory Santos to the Mariners.

The Royals select sixth overall in tomorrow’s draft, and now won’t pick again until their second-round choice (41st overall).  The Nationals now have three selections within the first 44 picks, with their newly-acquired CBR selection sandwiched between their first- and second-round slots.

Anderson came to the Royals in a trade with the Braves last November, as Kansas City had interest in seeing if the former Rays bullpen ace could regain his form after three injury-marred seasons.  Over 34 2/3 innings for the Royals this season, Anderson had a 4.15 ERA and not much in the way of secondary metrics, as he posted a 10.1% walk rate and 18.1% strikeout rate.

Anderson is earning $1.575MM this season, and he is arb-controlled through 2025, which could add some attraction for any club interested in adding bullpen depth via waiver claim.  Anderson has now passed the five-year threshold for MLB service time due to being on the Royals’ active roster all season, and would thus retain all of his 2024 salary if he clears waivers and becomes a free agent.

Royals Designate Austin Cox For Assignment

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The Royals announced this afternoon that they have designated left-hander Austin Cox for assignment. Cox’s departure from the 40-man roster makes room for the club’s acquisition of right-hander Nick Anderson from the Braves in a cash deal earlier today, which the Royals have now officially announced.

Cox, 26, was a fifth-round pick by Kansas City in the 2018 draft. The left-hander impressed in his full-season debut with the organization in 2019, pitching to a 2.76 ERA with a 24.1% strikeout rate across 130 2/3 innings of work split between Single-A and High-A. Unfortunately, the momentum Cox built up over that strong campaign screeched to a halt with the cancelled minor league season in 2020. Cox’s results upon returning to professional play in 2021 were somewhat mixed. Though he did well in his first taste of the Double-A level with a 3.00 ERA in 63 innings of work with a 21.5% strikeout rate, he struggled badly in a brief, two-appearance stint at Triple-A where he surrendered 10 runs on nine hits and five walks across five innings, striking out just four.

Those Triple-A struggles continued into the 2022 campaign, where Cox saw his strikeout rate plummet to just 16.2% across 147 1/3 innings of work at the level while his ERA ballooned up to 4.10. Things seemed to be looking up for Cox in 2023 as he posted a solid 3.61 ERA at the Triple-A level this year while getting his first cup of coffee in the big leagues, but his 2023 season was cut short in September when he suffered a full ACL tear and partial MCL injury that ultimately required surgery. That surgery, which figures to keep him out of action for much of the 2024 season, surely played a role in the club’s decision to designate Cox for assignment.

Going forward, the Royals will have one week to either work out a trade for Cox or expose him to the waiver wire. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, the club will have the opportunity to assign him outright to the minor leagues. Cox has not previously been outrighted in his career and lacks the necessary service time to reject the assignment and depart for free agency.

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